Daisies (Criterion Collection)

Daisies by ChytilováV'ra Chytilová, like French Agnès Varda, is one of the still universally rare female Czech film directors, especially in the 1960's. By this, I do not mean to imply that female directors are not behaving like directors, but that their choice of topics and view of the world is bound to have, while not necessarly a gender, non- or anti-masculine touch, a certain feminine dimension.Chytilová is best known for her Czech New Wave film Daisies (Sedmikrásky, 1966), which became also the film that established her international reputation. The film follows the antics of two characters, Marie I and Marie II, who engage in a series of destructive adventures in a surrealist atmosphere. Such techniques, in Chytilova's own words, "restrict [the spectator's] feeling of involvement and lead him to an under-standing of the underlying idea or philosophy."Though famous for its experimentation in form and content, Daisies is also marked by witty imagery and visual puns, not unlike the work of the Dada artists of the 1920s who pushed the limits of artistic expression with cleverness and anarchic humor. Film historians point out Chytilová's debt to Luis Buñuel and other Surrealists. The inventive and visually striking cinematography is by Chytilová's second husband, Jaroslav Kucera.Those familiar with Chytilova's background in philosophy discuss the film as nihilistic or existential, while cultural critics see it as a statement against materialism and consumerism in modern society. Others focus on the antics of the two Maries in search of a feminist reading. Daisies is clearly open to multiple interpretations that do not necessarily contradict each other, but exist as parallel readings of a complex film. ''''Though completed in 1966, Daisies was not released for a year. Bureaucrats and politicians were disliked the film, most likely because of its complexities and avant-garde style. Officially, one deputy from the Czech National Assembly complained that the imagery of the film revealed a wastage of food (scenes at the banquet setting). As soon as it was released, Daisies won the Grand Prix at the film festival in Bergamo. This would become the pattern of Chytilová's career--while gaining recognition for her work on an international level, she obtained no further state funds in her own country.PS Let me take this occasion to remind my readers that my grading of films is often a mixture between artistic valuation and historical relevance. Also, I am often short of space - reviews are meant to be kept to a certain average length, with amazon quite tolerant. In some cases like Daisies, I need to reduce my aspects to keep to my length - but then, there is the internet right at your fingertips, and if you start searching for more on the subject, you make me happy, as there is plenty more, easily accessible, and mostly worthwhile.58 - 5 February 2014

The Czech New Wave bloomed out of nowhere and was brutally suppressed just as suddenly. After Daisies, Chytilova directed a number of films which were duly banned indefinitely before, tragically, kow-towing to her government's ridiculous censors and softening her approach. That she never left her country as many of her contemporaries did (perhaps most famously Milos Foreman) is both inspiring and sad.Daisies is a mad little film. It's about two young women who take it in turns to go on dates with rich men. The other then invites herself along also and they proceed to wreak cheeky, anarchistic havoc wherever they go. The uninhibited, slap-dash, try-everything invigoration of Chytilova's direction surpasses anything from Godard or Truffaut. I didn't even know there was a Czech New Wave until I found this. It was a wonderful revelation. The film ends with the girls spectacularly trashing a lavish banquet before swinging maniacally from the chandelier. It's allegorical potency need not be specific: I read it as a simple, wonderful freedom. It deserves to become an instigative tag-line:"Daisies?""Daisies." Cue havoc and hilarity.I don't know anyone else who's seen this. It deserves more attention. I know the French New Wave was hugely significant and seminal (Chytilova was obviously familiar with it) but many other film movements (the Polish New Wave, for example (See Wajda)) seem neglected by the masses. I wonder how this favouriting of the French movement become as total as it did.

I saw this film on TV when I was about 15 (about 17 yrs ago!) and have been trying to track it down ever since. I didn't know anything about art house films or foreign films back then, but this film totally captivated me. It was so mad, but in a good way because it represented a desire we might all have at times- to have fun and forget rules for a while. It was so refreshing to see women totally free and silly, and literally messing up the order and pomp of the male business world. If you are feeling serious and want to loosen up, this is the film to see. Just wish they would bring out a region 2 version of the film so I could see it again!

I first caught a snippet of this overlooked gem on BBC2 around 20 years ago and it's been conspicuous by its absence from the schedules ever since. A typically loose plot for the period is no impediment to the childlike hedonism that runs through the film as a viewer with an open mind can simply enjoy the anarchic progress of the lead characters without expecting a conventional narrative.I suppose in retrospect it can be seen as a frivolous product of the Prague Spring, but it does capture a delightfully naive strain of Swinging 60s optimism that was brutally crushed in 1968, one it would have been impossible to convey on screen thereafter. If you like 'Une Femme est Une Femme' or even 'Help!', you may like this...

Marvellous film by Vera Chytilova - two anarchic women doing crazy stuff but I know where they are coming from. Breaks some male myths as these women are not to be messed with. I love its playfulness, the wonderful slow motion, heightened colour and montage shots. It's bloody Art without being the slightest bit pretentious. It's a lot of fun too, though some of my male friends were rather shocked. I am male too and I had a Japanese girlfriend who would have loved it also and would have made a good third woman to join the splendid other two.

Two impish anarchists with cupid bow lips explore and challenge the environment around them. They trick all the sugar daddies and trash their palace.

I've become a bit of a Hig Definition blu-ray snob in the last few years, but I gotta admit this is a very good DVD edition. The colors leap off the screen. And the film itself is excellent, a bit similar to Agnes Varda and Godard.